Page 64 of The Secrets of Roan Island

In response, my fangs elongate and my muscles fill with the power in my blood. But Ruby was right, I can feel the effects of having gone without sleep and sustenance. Without blood. I won’t be able to fight him and win. Even if he didn’t use his power to control me.

Ruby is locked in the morgue, and she needs me alive to let her out, so I drop my chin to my chest in submission to the monster that is my father. For now. But I know what I need to do. Ruby needs to get off the island. I should never have allowed her to stay.

With my eyes on the floor, I say, “Truly, father, she’s gone. I’m just as disappointed as you.”

He snarls a laugh. “She won’t be for long. I’ll find her. And then, I’ll bite her.” He uses his patriarchal power to lock my muscles in place as he closes the distance between us. “She’lleither die, or be your new matriarch.” His voice is low and threatening. “Don’t think for a moment that there are any other options.”

The need to rip off his head is unparalleled, but I can’t move. All I can do is grit my teeth and dig my claws into my palm deep enough that blood drips down onto the plush rug.

“You have no power here, Noah.” He pats my chest as if we’re simply casual friends joking around. Then suddenly his hand is around my throat. “Try anything, and you know who will suffer for it.”

We stare at each other. A clash of wills, desire, and blood.

I will kill him. He may have discovered every other attempt I’ve made, but this time, I’ll succeed. For Ruby.

His hand drops, and he stalks from the room, still holding Ruby’s pink sweater in his treacherous grasp.

31

Ruby

The creak of metal makes me jump from the cot, heart racing. The heavy door opens.

Noah’s face is the first thing I see, his body silhouetted by the laboratory light, and though I should still feel anger and revulsion, all I feel is relief. There was a moment when I heard Hammish yell, and then everything went quiet. I worried something had happened to Noah. I wouldn’t put it past Hammish to kill his own son.

All the tension goes out of me in one quick breath, and I step forward before I realize what I’m doing, only stopping once we’re standing right in front of each other. Noah looks tortured, the blood all but drained from his face.

“Ruby.” He says my name as if taking his first breath after nearly drowning. His hands come to my cheeks, and I don’t pull away, though I should. I’m standing in a morgue filled with the remains of women he’s helped end. But I know that’s only partof the story. The part I’ve latched onto in order to keep my heart protected from this man.

His palms feel wet on my cheeks, and I take his hands in mine. It’s the first time we’ve touched since I found out about what happens on Solstice. The same heat as always tingles along my skin, but it’s mixed with something else, a comfort, a familiarity. I turn his palms over, gasping when I see the angry holes in his hands. “You’re bleeding.”

“It’s not important.” Pulling a handkerchief from his pocket, he carefully wipes his blood from my cheeks.

“It’s important to me.” I know enough about Mavarri now to know that he’ll heal quickly, but it still twists me in knots. I hate seeing him in pain. I know he’s felt enough of it in his life already.

He studies my eyes, whispering, “We have to get you out of here.”

“We already had this conversation, Noah.” I rub my arms, fighting the need to touch him. “I’m not leaving.”

He pulls back, dropping the bloody handkerchief and putting distance between us. “Hammish found your sweater. He knows. I tried to lie, but–” He shakes his head as if to clear it from errant thoughts. “I don’t think he bought it.”

Turning away from me, he walks quickly through the lab, through the library, and to the room where I’ve been sleeping. By the time I catch up to him, he’s already got my meager satchel on the bed. “I’ll sneak you through the passageways and out to the dock. The moment my brothers return, I’ll take you to the mainland.” He gathers my things while he’s still talking.

I step in front of him. “I’m not leaving until we figure this out.”

“We’re out of time!” he shouts, shoving my clothes into the bag. The moment his hands are free, his arms fly out to his sides, a whirlwind of frustration. He steps back, tugging the roots of hishair, then turns in place to face me again. “Solstice is tomorrow, Ruby. Tomorrow! My father will try to turn you. And I can’t lose–” His voice catches.

I reach out, but stop myself, clutching my hands together. The distance between us hurts like an ache that travels over my whole body. “We’re close,” I whisper.

He shakes his head. “We aren’t. I haven’t found anything new. The tissues still disintegrate. There’s nothing in the journals. It doesn’t matter what I do.” He sinks to the edge of the bed, head dropping as his elbows land on his knees. “Please, Ruby. Just go.”

I can’t fight the impulse to comfort him anymore. The need to touch him, be close to him, is too great. I step in front of him, placing one hand on his cheek, tender and tentative.

He leans into my touch, eyes locked with mine. “It's too dangerous.”

“Everywhere is dangerous, Noah. Hammish has the resources to find me wherever I hide.” I run my hand up into his hair, a gentle caress as I make him face the hard truth. “He sent your brothers to do just that. It won’t matter if I’m here on the island or in New Essik.” I’m suddenly struck with the realization that I feel safer here with Noah than I’ve ever felt anywhere else. It’s odd to think that about a man who’s clearly dangerous. But I know, deep in my being, he’d never do anything to hurt me. He’d die trying to protect me.

“You’ll leave the colony,” he says, perking up with the idea even as my heart sinks that he would consider sending me away.

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